(Headline USA) Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., urged his colleague Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to launch a bid for the House speakership this week, slamming House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as an inept leader.
“All I want for Christmas is @Jim_Jordan to realize he should be Speaker of the House!,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter.
All I want for Christmas is @Jim_Jordan to realize he should be Speaker of the House!
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 24, 2022
Gaetz followed that up with another tweet on Christmas Day.
“Merry Christmas to all! Make sure to join me in encouraging @Jim_Jordan to seek the Speakership :),” he said.
Merry Christmas to all!
Make sure to join me in encouraging @Jim_Jordan to seek the Speakership 🙂https://t.co/uUAX39KtYI
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 26, 2022
Gaetz is one of several House Freedom Caucus members who have publicly come out against McCarthy for House Speaker. In an op-ed for the Daily Caller last week, Gaetz said House Republicans know that McCarthy “does not actually believe anything. He has no ideology.”
“The McCarthy camp is spinning that Kevin must be accepted because ‘we have to avoid chaos.’ Chaos for who exactly? The special interests that are counting on McCarthy as their lapdog?,” Gaetz continued. “I’m worried about chaos in the lives of my constituents. They live under the chaos of vaccine mandates pushed by Kevin’s donors.”
Referring to the minority leader as “Cavin’ McCarthy,” Gaetz slammed the California Republican for caving on a number of important issues, like Ukraine funding and the Russia-Gate hoax.
“In sports, when the team loses games it is supposed to win, the coach gets fired. In business, when earnings vastly miss projections, the CEO is replaced. In Republican politics, a promotion shouldn’t be failure’s chaser,” Gaetz said.
Jordan has not come out against McCarthy, instead saying he “has kept our team together.” He also has given no public indication that he is interested in being speaker.
“I mean, what I’ve said all along is, the guy who gets you to the Super Bowl, even if it’s a game in overtime, gets to coach the game, in my judgment,” Jordan told Fox News after the midterm elections.
The House will vote on the speakership on Jan. 3.
